Choosing a dog food is difficult on its own. Now throw in trying to find the best dog food for a dog with a sensitive stomach or a food allergy/sensitivity. It's near impossible.

There are a lot of dog foods to choose from and different factors to consider for a dog with a sensitive stomach or food allergies, which makes it tough to know the best dog food for your specific dog's diet. That's why we're here to help you!

In this guide we'll give you recommendations from a Clinical Pet Nutritionist when it comes to:

• reading dog food labels,
• the brown rice and chicken recipe bland diet,
• an elimination diet,
• and a homemade diet for dogs with a sensitive stomach or food allergy.

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Difference between a food allergy and food sensitivity

If you're not sure if your dog has a food allergy or food sensitivity, jump to the previous guide in this series here to learn the differences in symptoms between true food allergies and food sensitivities. This was part of our live discussion on food allergies and a dog's sensitive stomach.

Now, let's get into our guide to help you choose the best dog food for sensitive stomach symptoms or food allergies.

Dog Food Recommendation #1: Know how to spot undesirable ingredients on dog food labels

The first step in choosing the best dog food for your dog's digestive system is to be aware of the ingredients in your dog's food. Just like humans, dogs can be allergic or sensitive to certain ingredients found in their food. The best way to know what your dog can and cannot eat is by reading the labels on the food you're considering.

When you're looking at a commercial dog food label, there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind when considering the best dog food for dogs:

1. The list of ingredients in that dog food should be short, and the first ingredient should be meat.
2. There should be no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives in wet food or dry food.
3. The best dog foods should be made with whole foods, not by-products.
4. If the dog food contains chicken, there should be no bone meal or chicken meal. Chicken meal or poultry by-product can include all kinds of things - intestines, heads, brains, feathers, sawdust, beaks, hooves. Unless it says "human-grade food" on the dog food bag, it's regulated as animal feed and can even include plastic from the tags on cattle among other things allowed in the mix.
5. There should be no corn, wheat, or soy. Corn and wheat gluten contain protein and are often used because they're cheaper but very hard to metabolize.
6. The best dog foods should not contain any sugar.
7. There should be no powdered cellulose. Powdered cellulose generally means sawdust to bulk up the dog food to make it stick together in the cooking process and add fiber.  

If you're feeding your dog commercial dog foods, you're better off (more importantly, your dog is better off) with limited ingredient dog food, real food you recognize, and that's properly sourced for the best chance at healthy digestion and healthy skin.

Now that you know what to look for on a dog food label, let's move on to a recommendation that's commonly given to dog's with a sensitive stomach.

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Dog Food Recommendation #2: Brown rice and boiled chicken for a sensitive stomach - yay or nay?

Most pet owners have probably heard the recommendation to give your dog boiled chicken and brown rice if your dog has a sensitive stomach or loose stools (yes, we're getting into poop talk!). This can be a fine recommendation to calm your dog's digestive tract but I wouldn't recommend it as your dog's regular diet or for a long period of time as it's not a complete and balanced diet.

There are a few things you should know when feeding the chicken recipe with brown rice formula as dog food for sensitive stomachs:

1. There's nothing wrong with chicken if it's from a good source.
2. Chicken is a hot protein in Traditional Chinese Medicine, so bear that in mind if you have a dog who runs "hot." Giving chicken to a dog who runs "hot" could cause further allergic reactions. If you notice your dog's digestive issues getting worse, stop feeding the chicken and rice diet and consult your veterinarian.
3. A lot of chicken can have antibiotics, etc in it. If the chicken is organic, make sure it's not vegetarian fed which usually means corn fed which chickens can't digest well. Inflammation markers in the chicken transfer in food. If you have a chicken with high markers of inflammation, feeding that to your dog could potentially make your dog's inflammatory response worse.
4. Brown rice is easy to digest for some dogs but not all. Brown rice has a high fiber content and can actually irritate an already inflamed digestive system in some cases. If this is the case for your dog, feeding white rice is fine.
5. You can also add some other easily digestible vegetables like carrots, winter squash, green beans, peas, zucchini, or sweet potatoes.

If you're going to make this limited ingredient dog food for your dog with a sensitive stomach, here's how to cook the chicken: 

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling raw chicken
• Place the chicken in a pot of boiling water
• Boil for about 90 seconds or until cooked through
• Remove from heat and let cool
• Shred the chicken with a fork or chop into small pieces
• Add the shredded chicken to your dog's food bowl along with some plain, cooked brown rice
• Start with 1/4 cup of rice and increase as needed
• Watch to see if your dog's stomach upset improves over the next few days!
• If your dog's diarrhea or vomiting doesn't improve after a few days, make sure to take him/her to the vet

When feeding boiled chicken and brown rice to your dog as food for a sensitive stomach, it's important not to overdo it on the rice. Too much of the rice formula can actually make your dog's upset stomach worse. If your dog's gut health improves, great! If not, take him/her to the vet to rule out any other underlying health issues.

If you're looking for a more long-term solution for your dog's sensitive stomach or food sensitivities/allergies, your vet may recommend an elimination diet. Let's dive into what that actually means.

Dog Food Recommendation #3: When to do an elimination diet or food trial to find the right dog food for your dog

An elimination diet is exactly what it sounds like - you eliminate all potential allergens from your dog's diet and then slowly add each new food back in one at a time to see if your dog has an allergic reaction and find the right dog food for your specific dog.

An elimination diet or food trial can be great. I rarely recommend it though because it's a tough thing to manage in real life and not usually really necessary. We're all about being practical over here.

The most common foods for dogs to have an allergic reaction to are:

• Beef
• Dairy
• Chicken
• Lamb
• Fish
• Pork
• Eggs
• Wheat
• Soy
• Corn
• Potatoes

If you can believe it, that's not even the full list of foods that could give your dog an allergic reaction but those are the most common.

An elimination diet is a bit of a hassle because you have to make all your dog's food from scratch and it can be tough to find recipes that exclude all potential allergens.

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Here's how an elimination diet typically works for dogs with a sensitive stomach or food allergies:

You start with one single food, usually yogurt or cottage cheese - both easy to digest ingredients. They're okay food for dogs and have good bacteria and bioavailable protein.

Then you add in one more new food for 3-5 days. If your dog's stomach doesn't have any problems, you add another food for 3-5 days. Eventually you begin to find the foods causing digestive issues for your dog and learn which ones work.

Yes, an elimination diet will eventually help you uncover the best dog foods for your dog but it's hard to stick with, takes quite a bit of time, and we can usually get to answers other ways. That's why I don't often recommend it but as always you should consult with your veterinarian since they know your dog's digestive health best.

Dog Food Recommendation #4: The best dog food for dogs with sensitive stomachs or food allergies

The best solution for a food allergy or sensitive stomach is real food. That means whole, free from artificial flavors, fresh or minimally processed, foods from a good source.

As a general rule, I recommend you look for a natural dog food to aid digestion that has:

• High-quality protein sources like chicken, turkey, lamb, or fish
• Healthy fats like olive oil or coconut oil
• Probiotics and prebiotic fiber for gut health
• Carrots, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin for digestive health
• Oats or brown rice for easy to digest carbohydrates

That's a lot to look for on a bag of dog food but if you can find a food with all or most of those ingredients, you're likely to have found the best dog food for your pup.

Here are your options for the best commercial dog foods

Freeze-dried dog food

Commercial dog foods with real food freeze-dried are a great viable option as a base. You can add fresh food to your dog's freeze-dried food or use it as your primary dog food. I like this option because it's super easy, you don't have to cook anything, and your dog gets all the benefits of real food and well balanced nutrition

You're always better off in the commercial dog food arena if you choose limited ingredient diets, real, properly sourced, food you recognize without artificial flavors. Frozen, cooked, real dog food is another good, viable option but can be expensive.

Wet dog food

Canned wet food can be a good option for some dogs but many brands include artificial flavors which can trigger digestive issues. If you choose canned wet food, make sure it's a limited ingredient diet with real food you recognize.

Homemade dog food

Homemade dog food can be a great option for dogs with food allergies or sensitive stomachs but it's important to make sure you're including all the nutrients your dog needs and not just leaving out potential allergens.

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A few tips for home cooked meals for dogs

If you're preparing your dog's homemade meals, both raw and cooked are good options. Generally, raw meat is easiest for dogs to metabolize, while for many vegetables, cooked is better (breaks down the outer cell making it easier to metabolize). Also, we often find that raw organic chicken will work for dogs with a "chicken allergy" - about 50% of the time these "allergic" dogs are just fine with it.

Our overall objective is to improve your dog's digestive health and create a healthy immune system while making sure your dog is accessing important nutrients and getting proper nutrition.

Here are some key tips on what you can add to your dog's food to give your dog's immune system a boost and support digestive health:

• Prebiotic and probiotics help heal your dog's gut and keep it healthy and balanced with beneficial bacteria. The prebiotic acts almost as food for the probiotic to help it live and get all the way through the stomach to do its job on the healthy bacteria and increase your dog's ability to use all the good nutrients in his or her food.

• Good digestive enzymes always help, particularly when your dog is experiencing and upset stomach or eating grass and not accessing nutrients properly.

• Inflammation-reducing fish oil or krill oil are great omega fatty acids to add to dog food. My favorite is krill oil, with studies showing its omega 3s getting a higher absorption rate vs fish oil. Both are good sources of omega 3s and omega 6s - an important, hot topic among scientists but generally, you want more omega 3s (anti-inflammatory) than omega 6s (more pro-inflammatory, which the body does need for a balanced inflammatory response).

• Green tea (decaf) added to your dog's food is one of the most powerful antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory, and recent research shows it can expand lifespan by 2-3 years (!). If you want to serve it separately, you can also add a little local-to-you honey that can help with environmental allergies for your dog. In dog food, add about a half cup of green tea for 50 pounds of dog. Start small but you can't really overdo it. Even a teaspoon is good for a small picky dog.

• Ginger is great to add to dog food for sensitive stomachs or nausea. You can make a ginger tea for your dog or add a few fresh chunks of ginger boiled in water, then cooled to your dog's food.

Note: if your dog has been on antibiotics or other treatment that depletes gut bacteria, you can repopulate it with beneficial bacteria through your probiotic.

Next up in the Allergies Channel on Dogly

If you've followed my guides so far on the best dog food for sensitive stomachs, dog food allergies, and food intolerance and still haven't gotten to the bottom of the best dog food for your dog, you may be considering an allergy test for your dog. Go to my previous guide to learn why an allergy test may or may not be a good idea for your dog.

Hop over to the Allergy Channel if you have any nutrition related questions for the Community discussion or start any of the step-by-step guides in Environmental Allergies, Itchy Allergies, and Seasonal Allergies. And if you ever need more personalized nutrition guidance, please reach out!